Soda-Pop Shop (Steven Universe Gemsona)
by Ninawolverina
Summary: Garnet and Pearl find a small blue gem and bring her back to the temple, where Garnet reveals she may have met this gem before.


"The gem should BE here." Said Pearl, her hands on her hips.

But there was nothing there. The clearing of the forest was cool and calm, and the towering trees surrounding her and Garnet made them seem even more isolated. Nothing made a sound except the wind, and Pearl, of course, who was still muttering to herself.

"I mean, this is exactly where you would EXPECT it to be, right?" she said, turning around as if she expected the gem to just appear with her words.

"That's probably why it's not here." Replied Garnet. "Because it knows we expect it."

"You think it's that smart?" Pearl faced her now, and narrowed her eyes. "I mean, these things aren't DUMB but I don't think they're THAT smart."

"I guess we'll find out."

The two looked at each other for a moment in silence before Pearl sighed.

"Well, we should continue forward, then." She said. "There's nothing here."

"Wait." Garnet put her arm out, stopping Pearl as she tried to walk away.

Pearl raised an eyebrow. She opened her mouth to ask what Garnet was doing, when she was interrupted by a deafening shriek. The shriek was followed by crashing branches, and a pounding that shook the ground around them.

Then, into the clearing burst the monster. It towered above garnet, with powerful fore-arms and a small head atop it's square shoulders. Armor like a turtle's shield crackled across its body. When it saw the Crystal Gems, its mouth opened, splitting the face in two and shooting spittle towards them.

For only a second the gems were startled, then Pearl leaped into action, whipping out a spear and charging towards the beast. Garnet was only seconds behind with a solid punch that knocked the beast off it's feet, but not for long. The creature retaliated with it's own fists, swinging wildly and swatting Pearl's spear away.

Pearl landed gracefully next to Garnet. "What should we do? It's incredibly strong"

"Aim for the head."

"The head? But it's so small." Pearl didn't have long to protest, dodging a strike from the beast and dancing out of the way as it slapped at her like she was a fruit-fly. She launched another spear in it's direction, doing her best to aim for the head. She missed.

"This is impossible!" She shouted, annoyance tinging her voice.

"Keep trying!" Garnet called back to her from where she was no perched on top of the monster's back pounding at it methodically with her gauntlets.

So Pearl kept trying, nimbly dodging more blows from the monster while trying to aim for the head.

The monster paused in his assault to grab Garnet off of it's back and throw her into Pearl, sending them both sliding across the forest floor into the trunk of a massive tree. It towered over them, shrieking in triumph and raising its fist over the stunned pair.

A clang cut the monster's shriek off short, and a blade sprouted from the center of the monster's face, buried nearly to the blue handle. Pearl and Garnet watched, shocked, as the monster shuddered, and then poofed, letting both the corrupted gem and the sword that had slain it fall to the ground with a clatter.

Garnet deftly bubbled the gem and sent it away. The two stared at the sword.

"Where… did this come from?"

"It looks like a gem weapon." Garnet replied.

"Well, where's the gem, then?"

"Here's the gem, then!" a new voice answered Pearl, and as they whirled to face it, they saw a small gem leaning on the trunk of a nearby tree. Deep blue hair covered half the gem's face, and the lower half was almost entirely taken up by a smirk.

"Who are you? Where did YOU come from?"

The blue gem laughed, taking a step towards them. "I'm Sodalite. And you're the crystal gems. Are you going to thank me for saving your life?"

Garnet raised an eyebrow behind her visor. "Thank you." She said.

"You're welcome!" Sodalite, as she had identified herself, continued towards them. "Now I'd love to stay and chat but I… I gotta run…" she paused. Garnet cocked her head. Something was wrong.

Before they could figure out what it was, though, Sodalite collapsed in front of them, her sword poofing from where it had landed besides Pearl. Pearl stared wide-eyed at the blue lump.

Garnet walked up to Sodalite and poked her. No response. She shrugged.

"We'd better take her back to the temple"

Steven sat on his bed, watching tv. It had been a few hours since Pearl and Garnet left, and Amethyst had gotten bored of talking to him and gone to her own room. That was alright. Crying Breakfast Friends was best enjoyed alone with a big bowl of cereal, anyways.

He was just thinking this to himself when he heard the warp, followed by Pearl's voice. Steven poked his head out of his room to see three gems, not two, standing in the kitchen. One was Garnet, one was Pearl, and one was a fluffy-headed blue gem that was lying on her face on the counter.

"Whoa, who's that?" Steven asked, coming out of his room and into the living room. Garnet shrugged.

"Sodalite." She replied.

"Who's Sodalite?" Steven pressed, trying to get a more specific answer.

"Well, we don't know." Pearl replied, "She's a strange gem we found in the forest when we went to find the corrupt one. She saved our lives, and the collapsed!"

Steven narrowed his eyes. "Hmm.." He said, walking up to the blue gem and reaching out. He poked her in the arm. No response. He narrowed his eyes further. "Hmmmmmmmmm…."

"Hey guys, what's up?" Amethyst joined them now, coming out of the temple and stopping immediately when she saw the newcomer. "Oh, cool, a body!"

"A gem. We think she's hurt… or something."

"She didn't poof." Said Steven, "so she's probably just tired."

"Gems don't need sleep, Steven."

"I know, but maybe she just felt like sleep would help." Steven shrugged.

Sodalite coughed.

And the crystal gems (Except garnet) jumped in surprise. Steven laughed nervously as Sodalite pushed herself up on her elbows, her hands patting the countertop.

"Where… am I?" she wondered to herself.

"You're in – " Pearl started to explain, but Sodalite cut her off, sitting up in a flash.

"I'm in the Crystal Gem's base!" she shouted.

"Yes, that's what I was going to say."

"No way!" Sodalite jumped down from the counter. "You're all the crystal gems! Garnet, and Amethyst, and Pearl!"

"So you know who we are. But who are you?" Pearl asked.

"I'm Sodalite. I told you that."

"But what were you doing out in the woods, with that monster?" Pearl tried again.

"Oh yeah. Well, I live around those parts, and it just showed up one day and started making noise. I couldn't stand it so I decided, enough's enough. If I wanted noisy neighbors I would've moved to the city. And then I ran into you guys."

"So you live all alone?" Steven asked, his eyes wide, "That's so sad!"

"Well, we can't all have a team of besties – er – um… Kid?"

"Oh, my name's Steven."

"Steven. Weird name – human name. But you've got a gem." She pointed to his stomach, "So you're a… hu-gem?"

"Well, I mean, I'm half human, half gem."

"So a hugem."

"I mean, I guess so."

"Wait wait wait – you mean to tell me there was another gem living out there in the woods all along and we never stumbled across you before this? How long have you been out there?" Pearl demanded.

"I dunno, a few thousand years, give or take."

Garnet watched Sodalite quietly. She seemed to be debating something inwardly, but she said nothing. Pearl, on the other hand, didn't seem to want to STOP talking.

"Well if that's the case, how did we not find you sooner? And how do you know who we are?"

"Who DOESN'T know about the infamous Crystal Gems?" Sodalite replied, "Everyone knows about you. You're kind of a legend."

"Then are you from homeworld?" Steven wondered.

"Now, I didn't say that…"

"Are you from Earth? Amethyst is from earth, maybe you're like sisters!"

"I don't think so." Sodalite and Amethyst said at the same time, then exchanged a look. They both laughed.

"Well, we found you now, so you can stay with us!" Steven added with finality. Sodalite stopped laughing.

"Wow… that's really sweet of you, kid. But I don't wanna get in your way…"

"You wouldn't be! We have all sorts of weird gems living up in the barn! Lapis and Peridot – you'd probably love them!"

"A Lapis and a peridot? With a garnet, an amethyst and a pearl… the crystal gems sure are a weird team, aren't they?" Sodalite said, half to herself.

"You have no idea." Steven told her.

"Well, if it wouldn't be too much trouble… I don't really want to go back to the forest, not for now. It's been so long since I spent any time with other gems – or even humans." She stretched her back. "I guess I'll stay."

"Wait – now – Steven –" Pearl seemed to be realizing what was going on. "I don't know if we should…"

"Hey, didn't I save your life, doll-face?" Sodalite demanded.

"Well, yes…."

"Then I think you can let me stay." She grinned. "The kid DID offer, after all."

"Well – ugh – Garnet?" Pearl looked to the other gem for help.

Garnet still seemed conflicted. Then she sighed.

"Yeah. She can stay." She said.

"Yes!" Steven pumped his fist. "More gems! More gems! More gems!"

Sodalite laughed, letting Steven drag her out of the house and down to the beach. Pearl waited until they'd gone to turn to Garnet.

"Are you sure about this? We don't know anything about her!"

Garnet seemed to almost hesitate. "No…" she said. "I know all about her."

"And this is the big donut!" Steven said, proudly displaying the door of the shop to Sodalite.

"Wow, that's pretty cool, kid. What do they sell here?" Sodalite asked, sarcasm thick in her voice.

"They sell donuts."

"No kidding." She laughed. "Let's go in."

The two entered the shop. Sadie looked up from behind the counter. "Hi Steven! Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Sodalite!"

Sodalite interrupted, sticking out her hand to shake, "I'm Steven's friend."

"Oh, nice to meet you." Sadie shook her hand. "Um, have fun shopping, I guess?"

"I'll try." Soda replied.

"Sodalite, look at this!" Steven called her over.

He was standing in front of a machine with several different flavors written on it.

"It's Soda! Like you!"

Sodalite laughed. "If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one." She said, "I actually used to go by Soda-pop, when I was hanging around humans. But that was a pretty long time ago, human-lifespan-speaking."

"Like, ten years ago?"

"Like, maybe seventy years ago." Her grin widened. "Did you know I made myself learn how to drink, just so I could enjoy pop? I wonder if…" She cocked her head. "Oh yeah, they do! They have Mr. Dr! that's my favorite soda."

"Oh, I'll buy you one!" Steven went up to the counter. "One large soda, please!"

"Alright, anything else? A donut?"

"Um, I don't think she eats." Steven replied, "But thanks anyway."

A few minutes later, the two walked down the boardwalk back towards the temple, with Sodalite sipping out of a huge straw. "Ah, it's been so long since I had me some Mr. Dr." she said, "They've changed the flavoring a bit since I last had it, but it's still got that Mr. Dr. kick." She took one long slurp.

"I like apple juice more, personally." Steven replied, "They haven't changed the flavoring of THAT since apples were invented!"

Sodalite choked on her soda, snorting with laughter.

They climbed the stairs to the house, still talking and laughing. When they entered the house, Soda threw her empty cup towards the trash can, missing it by only a small distance. The cup bounced off and spilled a bit of ice on the floor.

"Aw…" Soda sighed.

"Oh, that's alright!" Pearl, who had been standing in the kitchen, hurried to clean it up, "You don't need to feel bad about that, hahahaha." Her laugh was uneasy.

"Oh… kay…." Sodalite pursed her lips. Steven raised an eyebrow. Why was Pearl acting so weird?

"do you need anything? Can I get you anything?"

"Nah, I was just gonna go hang out on the deck for a while."

"Oh, do you need anything to do while you're out there? Maybe something to read? Oh no! I'm sorry!" Pearl apologized, though she'd done nothing wrong.

Steven's mouth hung open a little. "Uhhhhh…."

Soda was silent, considering Pearl with confusion, and then, slowly, understanding. "No, it's alright." She said, her voice a little wavering. "I just wanna sit. You know, and think."

"You can always stargaze!" Steven suggests. Pearl visibly cringes.

"Oh, no, Steven..." She says, sounding embarrassed.

"What? What's wrong with stargazing?"

"Nothing's wrong with stargazing, Steven." Sodalite replied.

Amethyst comes in now, holding dvd case in her hand. "Hey Steven! I found a copy of Lonely Blade Three and I think I fell asleep halfway through last time we watched it! Wanna watch it with me now?"

"That sounds great! Hey, Soda, if you finish your stargazing early, you can come watch this movie with us! It's super great, it's about swords and dead brothers, and evil samurai agencys and –"

"Steven I don't think Sodalite would like Lonely Blade. Or… any movies actually." Pearl said, biting her lip.

"What? Why not?"

"Oh yeah." Amethyst said, "I forgot about that."

"Forgot about what?" Steven demanded, "Tell me what you're talking about!"

"Well, Sodalite…" Pearl glanced at Sodalite cautiously. The smaller gem had her arms crossed, and was facing away from Pearl. Pearl sighed. "She can't really… enjoy those things the way that you can."

"Why not?" Steven asked again.

"She just – she can't, because – because – "

"IT'S BECAUSE I'M BLIND. WE GET IT, OK?" Sodalite blurted, lashing out and pushing the trashcan over. Trash spilled onto Pearl and Amethyst, and Sodalite turned and ran from the room, down the stairs and out onto the beach. Steven gaped at Pearl and Amethyst, then ran after her.

Steven found Sodalite sitting underneath the deck, on a rock by the edge of the water. Her face was dry, with no trace of tears. When Steven approached, she began to talk.

"You know, Steven, back on homeworld they call Sodalites the poor gem's Sapphire?" She said, not facing him as he came up beside her.

"No, I didn't know that." Steven replied. He tried to climb up the rock, but it was a bit to slippery. Sodalite offered her hands and pulled him up to sit next to her.

"Well, let me tell you, then. Sodalites can see the future, like Sapphires. Only, we're not so good at it, and we're a lot more common." She paused, "Actually, we USED to be more common. They stopped making us long before Earth was even colonized. Said the production was… inhumane."

"What does that mean?"

"It means it was cruel to us, the sodalites. You see, we can't see the future while we're looking at the present. So we have to look only to the future, which means…" She took a deep breath and lifted up her bangs, revealing two white eyes, pupil-less and glazed, staring into nothing. "We really can't look at anything else."

Steven drew back in shock. "Oh!" Was all he could say. Soda laughed.

"Yeah, it's ugly, isn't it? And it's not fun to live like this, either. Sometimes I forget what I saw in the future, and I just bump into things, or people. But it's the way I am. The way they made me."

"That's terrible!" Said Steven.

"That's why they discontinued Sodalites a long time ago. Long before I was made."

"But then… Why did they make you?"

Sodalite smirked, looking back towards the house. "Well, I was made on earth, y'know? Cuz they needed a new clairvoyant after there was this… accident. It was an emergency, or I'm sure they wouldn't have done it." She chuckled. "I guess that's how she they knew."

"What? How they knew what?"

"How your friends knew who I was. You see, they made me cuz they'd just lost a clairvoyant. Only, they'd lost a much rarer one. A sapphire went rogue, and they needed to replace her to keep up with the rebellion."

Realization crept into Steven's face. "Garnet…"

Soda nodded, still smirking. "Yeah, Garnet. I knew who she was, they couldn't hide it from me – every time they came to attack, I could see her in my future vision. Blue Diamond acted weird every time I brought her up. Finally one of the other rubies told me what had happened. Why I was made. I was mad at her, at first. So selfish, leaving the Diamonds like that, leaving them desperate enough to create a freak like me."

"You didn't seem to mad at her earlier." Steven points out.

"Yeah, and I didn't seem like I was part of the Diamond alliance, either. I realized something, Steven, watching her fight. She was noble, and strong, and I wondered why someone like THAT would leave the Diamonds, if they – WE were the good guys. It took me a little thinking to realize that we WEREN'T the good guys, after all."

"So you turned against them!" Steven said, pumping his fist. Sodalite laughed.

"No, no, I'm not that bold. It wouldn't have made an impact, anyways. I was just a tool, to them. I had no proficiency beyond my clairvoyance. I was too small to be a soldier, too dumb to give advice beyond repeating exactly what I saw. The truth is… I'm a coward. I saw that they'd be leaving. I saw a chance to hide. They left me in my hiding place, and I've been hiding ever since."

Steven considered this. "You aren't hiding now."

"No, I'm not. Cuz they found me." She jerked a thumb in the direction of the house. Steven narrowed his eyes.

"I'm sorry they made you uncomfortable. They were trying to help."

"I understand that, Steven" Soda crossed her legs. "I guess when Pearl learned I was blind, she forgot that I've also been living ALONE in the woods and I also knew well enough where the monster's head was to throw a sword truer than any of her spears. I know what everything looks like because of the future visions, and I can even watch movies – I just know what's going to happen next."

"Oh! So you DO know what I look like!"

"Yeah, so no trying to fool me into thinking you're a blue elephant or something like that, ok?" Soda laughed, ruffling his hair. "Now, let's go back inside. I'll just… explain myself to Pearl. I know she meant well. I'm just not used to people meaning well."

"You'll get used to it pretty soon, now that you're here! Everybody's nice!"

"Well, even if you were the only nice one, Steven, I think it'd be better than what I've had for the past fifty years."


End file.
